Looking for ways to engage your students with family history fun? Students can become history detectives and, through family interviews and examination of old photographs, letters, and other documents, can discover the stories of those who have gone before. Learning about family history can make history come alive, providing connections to people and places! Here are some great resources for learning about the people who came before.
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Why Study Your Genealogy?
From EzineArticles.com
"You never met them, but without them you wouldn’t be here. They’re your ancestors; those long-forgotten people whose lives were so different, yet so similar, to yours today. Why study these people who are long gone and buried? Well, think about it. If just one of the thousands of your direct ancestors didn’t exist, you wouldn’t either. If your great-great-great-great-great-grandmother never met your great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, your significant other would never have met you because, well, you wouldn’t be alive." This article by Shari Hearn examines the reasons why the study of genealogy can lead to a fascinating trail of detective work - all about you! Note: The older boy on the left side of the picture is now 95! |
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Grow A Tree
From PBS
"Build a fab family tree to showcase your one-of-a-kind family!" In the section, ‘Hello Cousin!’ “Cousins Keaira (age 17) and Brandon (age 11) can trace their family back to the 1600s. In 1870, shortly after slavery was ended, their great-great-great-great-great-uncle, James Still, met up with his brothers and sisters, all former slaves who had been scattered by sale or escape. They vowed to meet every year... And they have. In fact, the Still family reunion is one of the oldest in the U.S. Read Brandon and Keaira's comments about their historic family gathering, and collect tips on how to start your own!” |
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Genealogy for Kids
Turn kids into family history detectives!
"Genealogy can do more than just teach kids about the past. They'll become closer to their living relatives as they learn more about their family's origins. As children piece family stories together, they'll also learn more about themselves. Genealogy can help kids gain pride in themselves, their family and their heritage." |
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Genealogy for Kids - Printable Forms
From Kids' Turn Central
"Use these free, printable forms to help organize your genealogy records. Made especially for kids." |
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Family History Map
From FamilyFun.com
“Make a tabletop map representing your family's history to get to know ancestors by collecting stories about their lives and re-creating their migrations.” |
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Genealogy for Kids
From the St. Charles County, Missouri, Library District
Some excellent categories:
• How to Get Started & Researching Your Family History
• What Does My Name Mean?
• What Questions Should I Ask My Family?
• What Can Old Photos Tell Me?
• Are There Coats of Arms for My Family Name?
• More Genealogy Sites on the Internet |
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Family History Summer Fun for Kids
From Genealogy.com
"Family history is one way to keep kids out of the summer doldrums. Maureen Taylor offers this list of activities for all ages." The photograph of the young woman at the left is the mother in the picture at the top of this page. |
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Genealogy for Kids
From the Allen County Public Library
"Want to investigate your roots, explore your family tree, learn about your family's history, or read about the adventures of family history detectives? This is the list for you!"
• Picture Books
• Chapter Books
• Non Fiction Books
• Parent/Teacher Resources and Non-Print Materials
• Web Sites |
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For Kids
From GeneaologySpot.com
Records,Specialized Search, Resources, Reference Desk, Living Relatives, and Special Topics can all be found here. "GenealogySpot.com is a free resource center that simplifies the search for the best online genealogy resources for beginners and experts alike. Sites featured on GenealogySpot.com are hand-selected by our editorial team for their exceptional quality, content and utility." |
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Genealogy
From Wacona Elementary School in Georgia
"Genealogy is the study or investigation of ancestry and family histories. If you like a good mystery, start trying to find out who your ancestors were and what they were like! These links will help you as you start to research your family tree. Remember that this can be hard work, and if you hit a stumbling block, don't give up! Like any good mystery, it takes some time and effort to solve or fill in the brances of your family tree." |
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Why Genealogy Is Important for Children
From Ancestry.com
"There are plenty of reasons why adults should be curious about family history, but what about children? Why should adults teach children about genealogy?" A very helpful article! |
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Genealogy for Kids
From Ann Zeise
Some excellent resources can be found on this site! |
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Genealogy: Greeting Our Ancestors
From the Internet Scout Project
"The KIDS Report is published with the support of the Internet Scout Project and the National Science Foundation, and with a generous grant from Tashia and John Morgridge. The KIDS Report is a biweekly publication produced by K-12 students as a resource to other K-12 students. It is an ongoing, cooperative effort of 12 classrooms from around the United States. Teachers assist and provide support; however, students select, evaluate and annotate all resources included in every issue of the KIDS Report. This issue of KIDS, dated March 2, 1999, was written and produced by students of the West Iron County Middle School in Iron River, Michigan." |
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Genealogy Web Sites for Parents and Teachers
From Family Tree Kids!
"These Web sites offer genealogy-related school project ideas; help for parents, teachers and scout leaders working on family history projects with kids; and youth-oriented genealogy how-to advice." |
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Teaching Kids About Genealogy
From Essortment.com
"The study of family pedigree can play a very important part of teaching kids about genealogy, family history, respect for their ancestors, and pride of their heritage." |
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The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
From Ellis Island.org
“Since many American immigrants first entered this country through the Ellis Island Port Authority, this website could be excellent resource to use in researching our family ancestry. Using this genealogy database is free, although many of its features will require you to register an account. The search checks passenger records which will include first and last names, residence (If given), date of arrival, and their age when they arrived. You can also view the passenger records, ship manifest, and often the name and photo of the ship they arrived on. Another nice search feature of this site is that you can enable a ‘search by ship’ and ‘sounds like’ option. These options are useful just in case your information is a bit sketchy such as being unsure of the correct spelling of an ancestor's name, but you have other information to help you narrow your search.” |
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Genealogy Collections
From Ancestry.com
“Ancestry.com is one of the largest and most popular subscription based American genealogical research databases. Their featured collections of ancestral historical data includes, but is not limited to, Jewish and African-American family ancestry, U.S. military and immigration records, and U.S and U.K. census records going back as far as 1790. One of the great features on Ancestry.com is that it is also set up so users can post family trees and family reunion contact information so that you can get a hold of long lost family members, including the ones you never knew you had!” |
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Free Family History, Family Tree, and Genealogy
From FamilySearch.org
This is a free online genealogical search site. |
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The USGenWeb Project
A National Project
"The USGenWeb Project consists of a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. Organization is by county and state, and this website provides you with links to all the state websites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects at the national level and this website provides an entry point to all of those pages, as well. Although the basic unit of organization for The USGenWebProject is at the county level, State Websites include very important information as well, including such resources for postings of unknown county queries, family reunion bulletin boards, state histories, and maps showing the changing county boundaries, among others. Many states also have ongoing projects as diverse as the transcription of Civil War regiments or the reuniting of families with lost photos, bibles, etc." |
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